Brading's Brewery (Ottawa), Part 3: 20th Century & Beer Train Tunnel

Aerial view of Ottawa's Lebreton Flats, viewing south-westerly, ca. btwn 1947-59 (most likely late-1940s / early-1950s). Brading's-Capital (later O'Keefe) plant & warehouse centre-left. [Colourized by Ashley Newall]

The most-viewed post on this blog is my post on Brading Breweries, featuring 1950s colour ads plus an ad campaign photographed by Yousuf Karsh. Suffice it to say, it's time for a follow-up!

(I'm retroactively calling my original/2022 article on Brading's in the 19th century “Part 1”, and the aforementioned collection of Brading's ads “Part 2”, making this “Part 3”.)

Brading's was founded in 1865 by British immigrant Henry F. Brading (initially with two partners, both of whom exited quickly).

H. F. Brading & Co.'s "Union Brewery", and Lebreton Flats / lumber piling grounds, viewing north-westerly from Bronson's Hill aka Christ Church Hill, ca. 1875. [Photo by William Topley]

The 19th century part of the story had never been told before. Conversely, the 20th century part of the story has been told a million times, specifically regarding the E.P. Taylor era (which ran from about 1923 to 1968), making it less interesting for me to write about personally. However, below I have simply laid out pics and newspaper clippings in a (mostly) chronological manner that tells the story for me (er, and for you)!

Slightly used Brading's tray, undated.

First though, let's talk about the Lebreton Flats beer train, which is (allegedly) sitting underground on the north side of Albert St., just east of Preston St.

The existence of a 'primary' tunnel under Albert St. (between Preston St. and City Centre Ave.) – running north-south between the former brewery and the warehouse opposite – has been previously confirmed (in 2014, when sewer work was done). This north-south tunnel reportedly employed a conveyor belt to move bottled beer, rather than a train. 

At issue is a reported 'secondary' tunnel, which ostensibly ran east-west (i.e. length-wise) under the gigantic Brading's/O'Keefe's warehouse (originally the International Marine Signal Building). This is where the mysterious "beer train" of local lore is said to be situated.

Zoom in: Brading's-Capital (later O'Keefe) brewery and warehouse, Wellington St. (now Albert St.) at Preston St., Ottawa, ca. btwn 1947-59 (most likely late-1940s / early-1950s). Viewing south-westerly.

For the record, I believe in the Brading's beer train. Do you believe?

When we think of a beer train, we might think of something like this...

Coors Light Chill Train, 2024

In fact, the (presumed) Albert St. / Lebreton Flats underground beer train isn't a full-sized locomotive – it's reportedly more of a mining-style train (set on narrow-gauge tracks). Our (ghost) train probably looks something very much like this...

Old mine train in Sulitjelma (Norway), 2016

Alright, let's pick up the story in the 1920s, dawn of the E.P. Taylor era, in which dozens of breweries would be bought up and rolled into Taylor's Canadian Breweries Ltd. conglomerate or otherwise shuttered entirely.

Ottawa-born Edward Plunkett (E.P.) Taylor was made a Director at Brading Breweries around 1923, shortly after his father Col. Plunkett B. Taylor had been made President.

One of E.P.'s earliest acts as a Director was to completely rebuild and modernize the brewery's facilities (located on a former stretch of Wellington St. near Pooley's Bridge, in the present-day Park of the Provinces).

Brading Breweries' original location at 451 Wellington St., Ottawa. [Ottawa Journal – Sept. 29, 1928]

Ottawa Journal – Sept. 29, 1928 (con't)

(Transcribed from) Ottawa Journal - April 14, 1930

Brading Breweries, 451 Wellington St. (where Wellington & Sparks St. once converged; eastern edge of Lebreton Flats), Ottawa, Aug. 1938. [Orig. image via Library & Archives – colourized by Ashley Newall]

Around 1930, Capital Brewing Co. started operating at 840 Wellington St. (now Albert St. on that stretch), on the south-west corner of Preston St. – this would later become a Brading's plant, and ultimately O'Keefe's. Capital had already been bought up by Brading's just prior (in 1929 or 1930). The land Capital's original Ottawa brewery was situated on had been expropriated by the federal government, necessitating the move. (Their original Ottawa location was on Wellington at Bay St., just around the bend from Brading's, on the present-day site of Library & Archives Canada.)

Slightly used Capital Brewing tray, undated.

(Prior to the Brading's take-over, Capital Brewing had been the Ottawa arm of Waterloo, Ontario's Kuntz Brewery.)

Albert St. looking west from top of cliff, west of Bronson, ca. 1938. Capital Brewing Co., 840 Wellington St., in the distance. [Orig. image via Library & Archives – colourized by Ashley Newall]

In 1941 it was announced that the Brading's plant (at 451 Wellington) had been expropriated as part of the Greber Plan – the federal government bought the property, but then was leasing it back to Brading's for an unclear period of time, creating uncertainty for the business.

Windsor Star – July 7, 1941

Meanwhile, WWII raged, and our troops needed (Canadian) beer!

Windsor Star – Oct. 18, 1941

Stacked cases of beer, incl. Brading's – Dept. of National Defense, Central warehouse, Rockcliffe (Ottawa), 1942. [Orig. Image via Library & Archives – colourized by Ashley Newall]

In 1944, Brading's moved into the Capital Brewing plant at 840 Wellington St., re-naming it "Brading's-Capital Brewery."

Ottawa Citizen – March 31, 1944

Brading's-Capital plant, ca. 1944-56. Viewing north from Somerset bridge. [Via Urbsite]

Soon after, Brading's-Capital bought the gigantic building across the street from their (840 Wellington St.) plant... 

Ottawa Citizen – Nov. 13, 1945

Did shomebody shay TUNNEL?!

(Regarding this 'primary', north-south tunnel under then-Wellington St., alluded to in the above clipping (and confirmed in 2014), "In 1947, construction for the tunnel was mentioned in testimony about a traffic accident near the site, and a 1949 engineering diagram showed a “Brading’s Brewery Tunnel” clearly marked." [Ottawa Citizen – July 3, 2014])

The Brading's-Capital (and later O'Keefe) bottling plant/warehouse (on the north side of Wellington (now Albert), at Preston) began its life as the International Marine Signal Co. Building, which likely opened around 1906.

Ottawa Fire Insurance Plans (1902, revised 1912). International Marine & Signal Building, Wellington St. (now Albert St.) at Preston St. (Brading's-Capital -later O'Keefe's- warehouse.)

Aerial view, 1965: by then O'Keefe's, but previously Brading's-Capital brewery and warehouse, Wellington St. (now Albert St.) at Preston St., Ottawa. Suspected beer train presumed under the warehouse just east of Preston. (Placement of words "primary tunnel" and "(suspected) beer train" not necessarily denoting precise locations thereof. ) [Via geoOttawa]

In 1947, the east end of the former Marine Signal building caught fire.

Ottawa Citizen – April 1, 1947

Ottawa Citizen – April 1, 1947 (con't) (Last sentence ends, "as well as offices and storage space.")

Meanwhile, across the Ottawa River in Hull (now Gatineau), Quebec...

"Carling & O'Keefe's" – a sign of things to come. [Ottawa Citizen – May 20, 1950]

And right back to the Ottawa side of the river...

Brading's-Capital Brewery, 840 Wellington St (SW corner of Preston St.)., Ottawa (viewing south-westerly). [Ottawa Journal, 1951-05-09]

Brading's-Capital (ultimately O'Keefe) warehouse aka Int'l Marine Signal bldg. aka Transport Bldg. [Ottawa Citizen – Nov. 23, 2012]

Meanwhile, Brading's old/original location at 451 Wellington St. became an (affiliated) O'Keefe's brewery from the mid-to-late 1940s until 1956. It was ultimately demolished in 1960.

O'Keefe brewery, 451 Wellington St. (former/original Brading's location), Ottawa, ca. 1950. Location was near Pooley's Bridge, within today's Park of the Provinces. [Via brewerianacollectors.ca]

In the 1950s, Brading's had plants in Ottawa, Montreal, Windsor, and Hamilton.

Brading Breweries' Hamilton plant, 1954. [Hamilton Spectator – June 21, 1954 (con't)]

It turns out E.P. Taylor's buying spree of breweries in Ontario and across Canada hadn't gone unnoticed by the federal government.

Ottawa Citizen – June 9, 1955

In 1956, the Brading's-Capital plant (at 840 Wellington St.) was transferred to O'Keefe's. Brading's beer would never again be brewed in Ottawa.

(I.e. O'Keefe moving from 451 Wellington St. to 840 Wellington St. “West”.) [Ottawa Citizen – Sept. 13, 1956]

Roundhouse, viewing east, btwn 1956 to approx. 1966. O'Keefe Brewery and western end of brewery warehouse, top centre. [Photo via Kitchissippi Times]

O'Keefe ad. [Maclean's Magazine – Dec. 8, 1956]

O'Keefe ad. [Maclean's Magazine – April 5, 1958]

My complete collection of O'Keefe's ads (covering O'Keefe's Ottawa era, from the 1940s to 1960s) HERE.

In 1962, as part of a three-year, $1 million expansion program, two giant new wort tanks were installed to boost production from 12 million to 18 million gallons per year.

A giant crane lifts one of two 7000 gallon "wort tanks" to the top of O'Keefe's Ottawa brewery (at 840 Wellington) as part of a three-year, $1 million expansion program. [Dec. 12, 1962]

Here's a short 1965 (or 1966) video (below) showing the brewery from the train yard (viewing easterly/from the west). City Centre, which still stands, appears at the 40 second mark.

O'Keefe's plant, 840 Wellington (now Albert) at Preston, Ottawa. (Viewing south-easterly.) [Ottawa Citizen - Nov. 12, 1965]

By late 1967, Lebreton Flats had been flattened and turned into fields (as seen in below colourized image). The brewery warehouse on the outer/southern fringe had already been expropriated (in 1962), however the government had yet to take possession.

Aerial view of the Place de Ville project of office towers (viewing westerly), Nov. 1967. Lebreton Flats flattened and turned into fields. [Orig. Image via Library & Archives – colourized by Ashley Newall]

At the end of 1969, O'Keefe's packed up and left town.

Ottawa Citizen – Dec. 13, 1969

(*While Capital Brewing Co. commenced their Ottawa operations in 1902, they weren't at this location / 840 Wellington until around 1930, hence it'd only been 39 years.) [Ottawa Citizen – Dec.13, 1969 (con't)]

In 1973, E.P. Taylor's former Canadian Breweries Ltd. (which sold to Rothman's in 1968) was renamed Carling-O'Keefe, and was one of the “Big Three” brewing giants along with Labatt and Molson that dominated the Canadian market for many years to come. The plant at 840 Wellington was demolished in the 1970s, followed by the warehouse in 1983. Brading's beer, the initial piece of the eventual Carling-O'Keefe puzzle, ultimately disappeared entirely, apparently by the early-to-mid 1980s.

*        *        *        *        *

In current news, the Ottawa Senators are gearing up to build their new arena complex right on top of the (reported) 'secondary'/east-west beer tunnel, on the north side of Albert at Preston. Hopefully, if they find the beer train, they'll incorporate it into the build (by painting it in Sens colours, for instance, and displaying it somewhere in the building).

A reasonable facsimile of my proposed Brading beer train paint job. (Go Sens Go!)

Also current and related to our beloved beer train, local singer-songwriter Paul Weber (who writes and performs songs about Ottawa history) is releasing his new album “Ghost Beer Train” at Red Bird in Old Ottawa South on Sat., Nov. 1st! (Tickets here.)

Here's the lead song, “Brading Beer Train”, off the new album.

If you're interested in Ottawa beer history, you might also enjoy my recent article on Rochester's (19th century) Victoria Brewery.

For Ottawa Senators fans, you might also enjoy my article on Sens Arenas of Yesteryear.

You can follow my Capital History Ottawa (@CapHistOttawa) on X/Twitter, Bluesky, Facebook, & Instagram.